


Clair de Lune

by ticklishivories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticklishivories/pseuds/ticklishivories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They steal away during an akuma battle into an abandoned warehouse, where there sits a lone piano.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clair de Lune

**Author's Note:**

> i'm too old for this fandom and yet here we are

 

As a rule they have to defeat the akumas by 1 a.m. The Eiffel Tower is the last thing lit in the city of Paris, and they can’t bounce off skyscrapers blind. Chat can see, but his partner, who likes to loudly and constantly remind him, cannot see her own hand in front of her face.

His stomach sinks when color fades from the world. He can see alright, everything’s just gray, but Ladybug skids to a stop mid sprint before she plummets off the building.

“Chat!” she yells into the black. He can’t resist– he sneaks up behind her and lightly pinches her shoulder. She almost lands a fist in his face, but he darts away just in time.

“I’m right here, no need to worry,” he teases. Chat takes her hand and she grips it tightly.

“We’ll have to climb down from this building manually. There’s no way you can get us both down safely.”

“Why not? I’ve got two perfectly good hands and two perfectly usable opposable thumbs.”

She glares at a spot off to the side, and he takes a moment to look at her unabashedly in the dark. Her brows are furrowed, her shoulders spiked and the grip on his hand a little too rough. Teeth dig indents into her bottom lip. He imagines the red rising to the surface.

She doesn’t like losing control. He’d say she was scared, but he doesn’t want to think about what that means in regards to her trust in him.

Chat takes care in guiding her into the building from a trapdoor. Their urgency dampens, and he makes no remarks about how she reaches out with her foot to take a step as if she were about to jump into a freezing pool. In spite of their fumbling and poor coordination (and her iron grip on his hand, damn she's strong) they make it down all six flights. An explosion from upstairs resonates to the bottom floor, and he drags her along into the adjoined building. The door is locked so he kicks it down.

He finds the lights and flicks them on. Her eyes squint, open, and then widen as her lips part in awe. He stands next to her, frozen.

The spotlight shines on a single, enormous, concert grand piano. It seems to sit in the middle of an ocean of blue carpet; nothing else occupies the room. The presence of the piano is loud and dominates the space. Like it's alive. Ladybug stands behind and wraps her arms around herself as Chat steps forward.

“This is spooky,” she whispers, even though they are alone. She feels as though they’re intruding. Something about the piano is too melancholic. Too…lonely. “We should go. The akuma is still out there.”

“Hold on.”

Chat gazes at the lonely piano. He approaches it with caution, excitement, his heart drumming against his ribs. He– Adrien, has a piano of his own in his house. But it’s a baby grand, and as much as he loves it, stumbling upon a concert grand– a Steinway, he notes breathlessly– in the middle of an abandoned warehouse is thrilling. His fingers glance reverently over the keys. Only the thinnest film of dust covers the ivory. He wonders…maybe it’s still in tune.

Ladybug watches him curiously. He’s enchanted by the piano, just as she is, but her wonder stretches more into apprehension.

“Maybe this place used to be a piano store?”

“Maybe,” says Chat, and his silence unnerves her.

“They must be coming back to get this one later. It is kinda big.”

“Mhm.”

To her astonishment Chat leans over and sits himself on the bench. His fingers never press down on the keys.

“I have to play this.”

Ladybug gawks. “Chat, there’s no time–!”

“The akuma can wait. It’s not doing any actual damage, and everything will return to normal once we stop it anyways.”

She has no argument, so instead she stutters over her meek, accusing words. “When exactly did you learn how to play piano anyway?”

He shrugs. “I was young.”

Chat turns back to look at her, his smile soft and inviting. “I can’t play with my claws. I’ll have to transform.”

He beckons her, and to her own amazement, she approaches him.

“Stand behind me?”

She does.

“Now, turn around and lean against my back.”

As she does this, he releases his transformation. The room is bathed in green light for a moment, then it vanishes. She keeps her eyes trained ahead of her. His voice drifts over her shoulder.

“Do you know the song “Clair de Lune”, my lady?”

Ladybug flushes. His tone has shifted; the suave, dripping cool inflections have dropped, and he speaks to her vulnerable and afraid. His bare fingers tremble over the keys.

“I’ve always imagined playing this song for you. It’s my favorite. Maybe one day, I’ll recite the poem it’s based on.”

She doesn’t know what to expect. For a moment the silence, his hesitation, is deafening. She’s about to speak up, but then he plays.

It’s in tune, thank God– he sighs happily and relaxes against the warmth of her back, taking strength in her presence. His trembling slows. Adrien gets swept in the music.

It begins simply. Ladybug thinks it is an easy song, but there is a heaviness in each note, like a paintbrush stroke; as if each one is played with enormous care. The soft, mellow notes build and quicken, blooming and growing, and she finds her heart racing. The song is gentle, it’s quiet, yet compassionate and burning with intensity. She can’t imagine what his fingers look like flying up and down the piano, but his back moves against hers, tenses and shifts, then calms with the dimming melody. At once the song is fast and flowing and then it is smooth, as if his fingers are timid, and the piano curious. She desperately wants to turn around and watch him. But she stops herself. Her eyes drift closed.

The last notes hang in the air like the moon. Fading, falling off, then–

Over.

Her breath comes out in a rush. There’s wetness in her eyes and she swipes it away. She turns without thinking, Chat’s name on her lips, and–

The light bulb bursts above them, plunging the world to black again. Her earring blinks, out of power as well, and they both laugh, the air still weighted.

“Chat…” she says, sitting down on the bench beside him. Neither can see a thing, but she’s close, and her words quiver as she tries to force them out.

“I don’t know where you learned piano, or why you’re so good at it, but that was…”

She’s breathless, and her heart refuses to calm down. Adrien can feel her warmth radiating beside him. He can’t find his cool cat persona anymore. His own words sound strange, not his own.

“I’m glad you liked it.” He swallows. “I put...all of my feelings into my music. It is one of the few things I'm good at.”

Ladybug’s earring continues to beep but she ignores it. She takes Adrien’s hands, his wonderful, talented hands, and brings them to her chest.

“My heart won’t stop beating. And it was such a calm song too, haha.”

He laughs with her. He can't believe how she's letting him touch her. Heat burns low under his skin. Their breaths mingle. “I should have played for you a long time ago, it seems.” He leans into her. "How easily music swoons the damsel."

“Don’t ruin it.”

His lips land at the corner of her mouth, just as her transformation gives. Marinette’s hands tighten against his, then separate to wrap around his neck. He feels her heart against his own thundering in his chest. His hands cup her burning cheeks.

She thinks she can still hear the music ringing in her ears. With it, she relaxes, and he follows her lead. Adrien tilts her chin up to suck her lower lip between his and she gasps. His hands settle on her waist. Hers drag down his back, the nails catching on his shirt, and–

Another explosion goes off somewhere. They pull away, searching for each other’s eyes in the dark.

“We should…”

“Yeah.”

They pull away, stepping awkwardly around each other. Adrien waits politely for Ladybug to settle back into her transformation before returning to his.

They return to the black streets of Paris. Chat snatches her wrist before they fling themselves back into action.

“My Lady, I sincerely hope that you’ll listen to that poem someday.”

Ladybug smiles at him, and his heart aches. “Of course, my kitty.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Adrien's poem in english
> 
> Your soul is a chosen landscape  
> Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go  
> Playing the lute and dancing and almost  
> Sad beneath their fanciful disguises.
> 
> All sing in a minor key  
> Of victorious love and the opportune life,  
> They do not seem to believe in their happiness  
> And their song mingles with the moonlight,
> 
> With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,  
> That sets the birds dreaming in the trees  
> And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,  
> The tall slender fountains among marble statues


End file.
